Two months after a circuit court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (News, Feb. 8), the government has appealed the decision.
An appeals court will now hear arguments on whether the statute, which seeks to regulate content on the Net, is viable under the First Amendment. COPA is the reincarnation of 1995's Communications Decency Act, which passed in Congress but did not survive legal challenges.
The American Booksellers for Free Expression are optimistic that the appeal will be denied. "We expect that the appeals court will draw the same conclusion as the circuit court -- that the act is unconstitutional," ABFFE director Chris Finan told PW. Oral arguments on the appeal are not expected for at least four to six months.
